Mean Girls (2024)
SHOULD I SEE IT?
YES
Energetic, gleeful, and completely entertaining, Mean Girls 2024 (and yes, it is a musical!), is a really fun time at the movies.
If you are unfamiliar with the names Reneé Rapp and Auli’i Cravalho, you won’t be for long. They are breakout stars in this film, the very best of a strong ensemble of fresh faces and talented young performers.
Tina Fey modernizes her 2004 film here and there, sprinkling in some new jokes and retaining many of the original ones. The film’s message is still a prudent one and the film carries lots of laughs and winning moments.
NO
Stuffed with a lot of songs, a lot of them which don’t quite become the earworms you may be expecting, the film might grow tiresome for viewers who want more movie and less music.
Suffers from pacing issues, where the film at times will rush to get to the next big moment, without letting dramatic moments pause for effectiveness. Perhaps shedding one or two musical numbers, would help make the film more efficient.
If you are not a fan of musicals, stay away. If you will not allow this reboot to stand on its own and only want to make comparisons to why the 2004 version is better, find something better to do. Both can be good. Both can be worth your time.
OUR REVIEW
Twenty years ago, Tina Fey’s wickedly smart and incisive storytelling elevated teen comedy Mean Girls into a pop-culture phenomenon. The film’s quotable dialogue, memorable scenes and moments, and beloved performances from Lindsey Lohan, Amanda Seyfried, Lacey Chabert, and Rachel McAdams, as bully Regina George, have stood the test of time. Mean Girls remains popular 20 years later.
Many of those fans are probably wondering why a new Mean Girls is even necessary at all. Not necessarily helping is the fact that Paramount Pictures seems to be undercutting its potential along the way. Originally, Mean Girls - the 2024 edition - was supposed to be an exclusive film on the Paramount+ streaming service. Additionally, in the marketing for the film, the studio seems to be hiding the fact that this new film is a musical - though many do know that it is adapted from the 12-time Tony Award-nominated stage production which saw Fey write the book of the show.
While the success of Barbie likely made Paramount pivot from the Paramount+ idea, the decision to release this in theaters ultimately was the right one. This musical adaptation of Mean Girls sings, literally and figuratively, while proving to be tremendously entertaining. I had a blast with this, and I imagine most of you will as well.
Fey has modernized her original script, itself an adaptation of Rosalind Wiseman’s 2002 young adult novel “Queen Bees and Wannabes.” Wiseman is still credited here, but this Mean Girls world is Fey’s through and through. She updates and revisits many of her great lines, creating some new ones along the way, while continuing to skewer the constructs and spaces which exist to marginalize and make people feel an “otherness” that can prove so damaging to youth mental health and emotional well-being.
First-time feature directors Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez, Jr. bring an energy and enthusiasm to this vibrant reboot, even if they fall guilty at times of wanting to rush through a scene to get to the next audience-pleasing moment, or stumble a bit too long in certain scenes that disrupt the timing and flow of the film.
The ensemble more than makes up for any issues which threaten to hold the film back. Angourie Rice (“The Nice Guys”) settles in nicely as Cady, the 16-year-old newcomer to North Shore High School. Relocating with her mother (Jenna Fischer) from Kenya, Cady has been homeschooled her whole life. Now, she finds herself tossed into the deep end of the pool when it comes to swimming through high school cliques and the confusing, often unspoken rules of “do’s” and “don’ts.”
She first makes friends with Janis (Auli’l Cravalho) and Damian (Jaquel Spivey), two besties who attempt to teach her how to navigate the rigorous social aspects of high school. At lunch, Cady is drawn by the head-turning arrival of Regina George (Reneé Rapp), “the Queen Bee” and leader of “The Plastics.” Her charisma, enigmatic screen presence and powerhouse singing voice makes it easy to understand why she would have the kind but anxious Gretchen (Bebe Wood), and the dim-witted and mentally vacant Karen (Avantika) right by her side.
Rapp is a force in this role, reclaiming the character from her run on Broadway. You simply cannot take your eyes off of her even as she takes advantage of those she lets into her inner circle. Seeing something of a pet project, or as a way of deflecting attention away from the new girl and back to herself, Regina makes Cady a new “Plastic.” This is when Mean Girls shifts, and becomes as much a story of Cady emerging from her shell as an introvert to that of a selfish narcissist, selling her soul to become everything she initially claims she does not want to be.
She also develops a crush on Regina’s ex-boyfriend Aaron (Christopher Briney), which does not help matters much.
Rice does a nice job of singing timidly and quietly in the initial songs she is featured in, only to then emerge with a clear, full-throated voice in later numbers. Along the way, we laugh - often and out loud. Janis and Damian might be the best of the best friend tandems we have seen on screen in quite a while, with Spivey stealing every scene he’s in and Cravalho demanding our attention. Perhaps best known as the voice of Disney’s “Moana,” she is an unmistakable talent.
Avantika wrings every last drop out of Karen’s simple mind, while Wood finds nice vulnerability, stirring sympathies as Gretchen, seemingly always taking the verbal abuse Regina can dole out with such ease and effortlessness.
Jayne and Perez, Jr. deliver a film that flies by at nearly two hours. The musical numbers, as visually wondrous as they can be, are somewhat hampered by a vocal sound mixing issue which may have been unique to my screening experience. Still, colors are vivid. Dancers come and go unexpectedly. Something fun seems to be waiting for viewers in every scene.
Comparisons between the two films are a bit unfair, but easily understandable. Despite the musical element, Fey is unafraid to break the fourth wall here. I am still laughing about a scene with a mobility scooter. I continue to smile ear-to-ear as I think about Cravalho taking over the film with the anthemic “I’d Rather Be Me,” which comes right on the heels of Rapp delivering a major moment with “World Burn,” the song used to introduce the infamous Burn Book that Regina uses to enact her revenge.
As some scenes are rushed and a song or two perhaps could have been cut for efficiencies, Mean Girls could have benefitted from slowing down to speed up and allowing the more dramatic beats time to breathe.
I texted back someone after my screening who was wondering how good this new Mean Girls really was. My response: “The question is not will you see Mean Girls, the question is how many times will you see Mean Girls?”
Go and treat yourself. Add extra butter to the popcorn bucket and get the larger soda size. The musical may or may not hold up to the 2004 original as time will certainly tell on that. Just know that the swagger this carries is significant, as this class of mean girls may have just created a pop culture moment all their own.
CAST & CREW
Starring: Angourie Rice, Reneé Rapp, Auli’i Cravalho, Jacquel Spivey, Avantika, Bebe Wood, Christopher Briney, Jenna Fischer, Busy Phillipps, Tina Fey, Tim Meadows, Jon Hamm, Ashley Park, Connor Ratliff, Mahi Alam, John El-Jor, Brian Altemus, Camille Umoff
Director: Samantha Jayne, Arturo Perez Jr.
Written by: Tina Fey
Based on the stage musical, “Mean Girls,” with book by Tina Fey
Additionally adapted from the film “Mean Girls,” written by Tina Fey
Additionally based on the book “Queen Bees and Wannabes” by Rosalind Wiseman
Release Date: January 12, 2024
Paramount Pictures